Cops for Kids: Still More Questions Than Answers

As information about Cops for Kids keeps turning up, I’ll do my best to keep everyone up-to-date.

A couple of readers have asked about whether Cops for Kids appears in any government lists of charitable organizations. It doesn’t look like it.

The list of 501(c)(3) charitable organizations registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has no record of Mooresville’s Cops for Kids. Organizations with the same or similar names are located in Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, and Massachusetts, according to the IRS. It appears Mooresville's Cops for Kids is not a 501(c)(3) charity under federal tax regulations.

Neither is Cops for Kids listed as a corporation or other business entity with the North Carolina Secretary of State. Also, Mooresville's Cops for Kids isn’t listed by the Secretary of State as possessing a charitable solicitation license, which it may be required to have if it directly solicits contributions.

So it appears that Cops for Kids, despite what the Mooresville Police Department’s website represents, is not incorporated and, as a result, has never received its tax exemption under federal law. Does this mean it has filed and paid its taxes? If it has, where are the returns? If it has not, why not and wouldn’t that mean it owes taxes? And why does the Cops for Kids website represent that the organization was incorporated? The questions keep piling up.

Additionally, Mooresville's Cops for Kids is not listed as a charity by GuideStar, an online charitable watchdog that keeps tabs on 1.7 million charities. GuideStar does have records of organizations with the same or similar names in Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Wisconsin, California, Kentucky, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Texas — basically the same organizations on record with the IRS. Neither is Mooresville's Cops for Kids listed by the Better Business Bureau’s national registry of charitable organizations.

Another reader of the Report also pointed our attention to a website, www.copsforkidsinc.com, and suggested it could answer many of the questions included in Friday’s post. Many of the Report’s questions could be answered by that website — if that website had anything to do with the Cops for Kids organization operating out of the Mooresville Police Department by Chief John Crone. It doesn’t.

Rather, the website appears to be operated by a California organization named Cops for Kids. That’s not to say the website isn’t valuable. What’s most interesting about the website is the contrast it provides to the website for Mooresville’s organization. The California site includes, among other information, the names of the organization’s officers and board of directors; sponsors; annual events; information about how to refer someone in need to the organization; and an application for those who are themselves seeking assistance from the organization. Our website, www.ci.mooresville.nc.us/police/copsforkids.html, includes no such information. Also, the California organization is listed with the IRS as a charitable organization and registered as a business entity with the state. Additionally, annual financial reports filed by the organization with the IRS are accessible (after registration) at www.guidestar.com. Our version of Cops for Kids is listed with neither the feds nor the state and such reports are not publicly available, if they exist at all.

The only similarity between the California website and our website is one that, once again, raises questions. As included in Friday’s original post about Cops for Kids, the website for the Mooresville organization includes the following narrative that purports to tell the story of its founding and purpose:

"Since 1995, Cops for Kids, Inc. has assisted children, seniors, and families that find themselves in unfortunate situations. Through generous donations from local business sponsors and individuals in our community, Cops for Kids has enabled children and seniors to enjoy some of the basic necessities that were not available to them through other agencies.

"Whether it be transportation costs to school or work, a temporary place to stay for an entire homeless family, youth activity funding, clothing, or some assistance for educational costs, Cops for Kids is ready to help.

"Cops for Kids was created to help children at Christmas time. Giving a few disadvantaged children Christmas presents while on routine neighborhood patrols during the holidays has grown into a local organization that now offers those in need a host of services during the holiday season and throughout the year.

"With low overhead and virtually no red tape, Cops for Kids can respond immediately to children, seniors, and families in need. We are often the local organization called to help because of our ability to quickly and respectfully assist others with emergency funding from utility payments to temporary housing."

Here's a current snapshot of Mooresville's Cops for Kids webpage (click to enlarge):



Sounds good — just the kind of story that would induce people to give money to Cops for Kids. Now, if you go to the California organization’s website and click on the “About Us” tab, here’s what you find:

"Since 1995, Cops for Kids, Inc. has assisted children, seniors, and families that find themselves in unfortunate situations. Through generous donations from local business sponsors and individuals in our community, Cops for Kids has enabled children and seniors to enjoy some of the basic necessities that were not available to them through other agencies.

"Whether it be transportation costs to school or work, a temporary place to stay for an entire homeless family, youth activity funding, clothing, or some assistance for educational costs, Cops for Kids is ready to help.

"Cops for Kids was created by two Sheriff’s department deputies who saw a need to help children at Christmas time. Giving a few disadvantaged children Christmas presents while on routine neighborhood patrols during the holidays has grown into a local organization that now offers those in need a host of services during the holiday season and throughout the year.

"With low overhead and virtually no red tape, Cops for Kids can respond immediately to children, seniors, and families in need. We are often the local organization called to help because of our ability to quickly and respectfully assist others with emergency funding."

Here's a snapshot of that webpage:



Sound familiar? It’s verbatim what our Cops for Kids website represents as its own history, right down to the year of creation and the circumstances giving rise to its founding. The only difference is a sentence on the California site about Cops for Kids being created by two Sheriff's department deputies. So it looks like the Cops for Kids operating out of the Mooresville Police Department by Chief John Crone lifted — word-for-word — the history of the California organization so as to give the organization legitimacy in the eyes of the community. So what’s the real story surrounding Mooresville’s Cops for Kids founding? If the only information on our website is lifted from another organization’s website, do we really know anything about our Cops for Kids? Does it even really exist? If not, what has happened to all the money given to it over the years? Again, more questions. (By the way, I have e-mailed the California organization, asking if it has anything to do with the organization operating here. I’ll let you know what I find out.)

Stay tuned. We’ll have access to the records in Crone’s office tomorrow. Hopefully, they will clear up many of our questions. Crone says I can be there at 3 p.m., but I have notified him and others – including Interim Town Manager Erskine Smith, the town board, Town Attorney Steve Gambill and the press – that I plan to be there at 9 a.m. The police department is a public facility, and as such, any member of the public can be there at any time.